Estoy Muy Agradecido Por Esta Oportunidad

Dear All,

Another week has flown by. Elder Boyd and I had the oppurtunity to do exchanges again this last week, and that went well. We actually got into a house, taught a lessond got a new investigator from it. During the lesson, there was another templor, and it was measured as a 6.0. It was pretty scary! Elder Boyd and I thought it was going to turn into a big one. And wow--it´s already been a month since the earthquake. That´s just crazy.

General Conference is this weekend; I am really looking forward to it. It´ll be fun to see in Spanish for the first time. haha. My challenge and my hope is that everyone watches it with their families and really ponders the messages. We can all learn something from General Conference; the messages are meant for US, afterall. I hope that every one takes the time to watch and learn something new from our Prophet and His apostles. :)

Life in our new house (AKA el castillo) is pretty good. It´s been a lot different, but I think we are adjusting just fine. It´s good to be with Elder Briones, and it´s good to actually live in our ward boundries. :) Haha. Of course, I miss Elder Boyd and the other Elders from the other pension, but...we are are still in the same zone, so it´s good! We had a soccer match this morning (Brillador vs. Compañia Baja!), and every one was surprised by how much I´ve improved. HAHA. I got four goals or so. And Elder Boyd just kept saying, ¨"Elder Nelson! By the time you leave this place, you are going to be AMAZING!" I scored on one of the Zone Leaders, too, and you should have seen the looks on their faces! HAHA. Elder Bales (the other zone leader) said, "Elder Bastian! You just let ELDER NELSON score on you?" Haha. By the time we were done playing, they actually were looking out for me and making sure I was never open. It was just a lot of fun! :)

Anyways. This last week was good. We had our failures and we had our sucesses. When Elder Boyd and I found that new investigator, we were just SUPER excited. Despite our weaknesses (mainly the Spanish) the Lord still opened that door for us, and we were able to bear testimony of the Book of Mormon and the blessings that come from reading it. It was the best! Elder Dupre and I also had four investigators attend church yesterday, and that was super sweet! We are really looking forward to Matias´s baptism next week. :)

And so we are in week five of this cambio. I can´t believe it! Time continues to fly here in the mission, and I can´t believe it´s almost been five whole months since November 18. These five months have changed me in a lot of ways, and I am reminded every day of the Lord and His tender mercies. I know that it is only through our Savior and His perfect example that we can obtain Eternal Life! My testimony continues to grow every day. My favorite thing to bear testimony of during lessons is that our families can live together forever if we live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for my knowledge of these things--for the knowledge that I CAN live with my family forever. There is nothing more important to me.

During the sacrament yesterday, I was reading a few hymns--both in Spanish and in English. Wow. I love the hymns that we have in the church. I challenge every one to read the first presidency´s message in the front of the hymn book. (It´s so true what they say!) Maybe it´s something every one can do for an FHE or something. And then READ the words of a three hymns before singing them. I testify that you will feel the Spirit as you do this. The ones that really stuck out to me yesterday: "Be Still My Soul", "Our Savior´s Love" and "I Stand All Amazed."

The Savior lives and He loves us. I testify that it is only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we can obtain Eternal Life. I know that it can be difficult, despite the simplicity of the Gospel. But I know that if we do everything we can to be obedient, we will receive blessings in this life and the greatest blessing of all--eternal life.

I love you all. I am grateful for the oppurtunity to leave everything behind for two years in order to serve the Lord and to invite these people to come unto Christ. I hope all is well, and I look forward to hearing from everyone again soon. :) Enjoy the pictures this week! I´m going to send a few more in another e-mail, I think. ;)

Con Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

--

D&C 122:7

La Carta Sin Fotos. ¡Pero Hay Muchas Experiencas Buenas! :)

Hello All,

I hope this e-mail finds every one doing well. Sorry this is coming on a Tuesday; we had interviews with the President yesterday. :) It went well; I learned a lot from our little conversation, and I know without a doubt now that the mission presidents are inspired men of God.

But yeah, for future reference, if I ever DON´T e-mail on a Monday, it´ll most likely be moved to a Tuesday. And if I ever get called to the mission office (I have a feeling it´ll happen some day), my P-days will be Saturday. So yeah, keep that in mind. :) Haha.

No pictures today either. Oops. For some reason, my camera is not working on this computer. It´s like that here in Chile. Some places have really nice computers, and everything works fine. Haha. But we are e-mails from Centro de La Sarena today, and we are in a pretty ghetto Internet place. I´ve already restarted this thing two times! So...pictures next week. :) I promise.

This last week was pretty good. We found a lot of new people to teach, and our progressing investigators are doing well. Matias will be baptized this transfer/change, but I am not so sure about Manuel and his kids. They will be baptized eventually, I think. Just not in this change. :)

I can´t believe it´s already week four of this change. Time is flying! before you know it, it´ll be cambios again. And who knows if I´ll stay in La Sarena or not. I wouldn´t mind either way, really. :) I love this place, but I think it´ll be fun to move somewhere else.

Speaking of moving...we officially moved into a castle this morning. Excellent. I have mixed feelings about it now, though. Haha. I am going to miss Elder Boyd. He and I have been together since November 18! Wow. Of course, we will be in the same Zone, though, until the end of the change, so at least we will see each other once or twice a week. :) I´m sad to leave the zone leaders, too. Haha. They have become my good friends the last few days. The good news: I am excited to live in the same house as Elder Briones. The greatest!

I saw Elder Birchall at our Zone Conference this last Saturday. It was funny because he and I were getting confused--we kept thinking we were still companions. HAHA. He was walking up to me, and then he was like, "Wait. You aren´t my comp anymore." It was good to see him.

One thing president told me that really stuck out: The second transfer/change is the hardest one. I´ve talked to other Elders about that, and they´ve said that the first and second WERE really hard for them. It was just weird for me because--well--so far nothing has really been super hard for me. I really do think I have been blessed; and now I do feel like all the preparation I did has paid off. Of course, my Spanish isn´t the greatest, but...it´s enough to get into people´s houses and to teach them. :) And that´s all that matters here in the mission. (But of course, I will continue to keep working on it.)

I can´t really think of anything else to say today. This one might be shorter than usual. :) I will say that the mission is truly a time of change and of testimony-building experiences. I only have four months, and here I am--10 times stronger in the Gospel than I was when I left. The mission truly shapes you into the person your Heavenly Father wants you to be. :)

I testify that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can make us eternally happy. He is our Savior, and he is the keystone to the great plan of Salvation/Happiness. He is my strength and my support! If we follow Him and His Gospel, we can live with our families forever. There is nothing more important to me than this.

I know the Book of Mormon is true. I now understand WHY it´s so important that people get a testimony of that powerful testament of our Savior. It is truly the keystone to our religion. I challenge all of you to read more from that book--make it a consistent thing! I testify that you will receive blessings for studying the scriptures.

My love for each and every one of you grows as I continue to press forward in this great work. I am grateful for your prayers and your support. I am truly blessed. I love you all, and I look forward to hearing from you all very soon. Ciao!

Con Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

--

D&C 122:7

La Oscuridad

Dear All,

Sorry if this is short. I was really slow with my letter to the mission president today and what not. Oops. But I want to thank everyone again for the e-mails. :) I got a lot again this week. I am sorry if I didn`t directly reply to you. If you sent me an e-mail to me, but didn`t get one back, just know that I love you and am grateful for the e-mails. :)

Well, let`s get cambios out of the way. I stayed here in La Sarena in the Brillador Ward, along with Elder Briones. :) That was great news, because we both wanted to stay together in the same ward. However, Elder Birchall left, along with Elder Tarbares, and that was sad. :/ But...the work moves on!

My new companion is Elder Dupre. He is a good Elder, but he has his different ways. He is different than Elder Birchall, and it kind of threw me off at first. But I am getting used to it, and it`s been good. :) The next four weeks with him should be sweet. :) He reminds me of a shorter Nick Beatty. Haha.

(Unfortuneately, my camera died while pictures were being uploaded, so you will only see the photo of me and some other Elders waiting for our companions at the bus station. :/ There`s always next week, though! :))

We now have an investigator with a baptismal date. His name is Matias, and he is part of a less active family. The family is getting reactivated, and he is getting baptized on April 10. Their family is way sweet, and I am happy to be working with them. :) And then yesterday, wow! We had four investigators attend church! It was way sweet. I look forward to meeting with them all this week, and hopefully they all return next Sunday, too. :)

Elder Wallentine (my district leader) and I went on interchanges again, and we had a fun time, just like we did the first time we went on interchanges. Haha. We were going to ask this old lady what the name of this street was...and as soon as she saw us, she walked over to Elder Wallentine and tried to greet him with a kiss. He said, "No puedo besar!" (I can`t kiss.) HAHA. And she was all embarassed, and said to her neighbor, laughing, "Yo quiero le besar!" (I wanted to kiss him.) HAHA. It got even funnier later on when we were teaching this less active lady named Brigida. Her ten year old grand daughter walked into the room, and greeted Elder Wallentine with a kiss on the cheek while he was teaching. She shook my hand next, and I gave her the stiff arm. HAHA. She was trying to go in for the kiss, but I wouldn`t let her. To make a long story short, I was laughing during the whole lesson, and I even made Elder Wallentine laugh while he was trying to read a scripture. We joked later and mentioned how weird stuff always happens when we are on intercambios together. :)

Last night, while teaching the Arayas, the power went out! It was SO dark. It was about time to head back to the apartment, and we did so in safety, thanks to a member who gave us a ride home. :) The power was out in the WHOLE country. Pretty nuts, eh? We ended up having to plan for the next day (today) in the dark with a flashlight. That was fun. :) I will send pics of the darkness next week. :)

Well, I am out of time. :) I love you all, and I know this Gospel is true. All is well here, and although I have my stuggling moments, my testimony has been my anchor and my support.

I hope that everyone remembers this one thing: Nothing can replace the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is only through living this Gospel that we can be truly happy. I know this because I am a witness of the happiness that has come in my life and in the lives`of others.

Again, I love you all, and I hope to hear from every one soon. :)

Con Amor,

Elder Nelson

--

Mosiah 2:22

Cambios Hoy Dia

Mi Familia y Mis Amigos,

¿Comò estàn usteds? I hope all is well. :) I want to thank everyone that e-mail me this last week. I also got a bunch of letters from Dad and JoAnn via snail mail. It was good to hear from you all. Gracias por su apoyo.

It´s March. I can´t believe it. I was looking in my journal, and it´s weird that it´s already almost been a year since Dad lost his job! It´s been a year since Chris Berry left on his mission! Haha. It just blows my mind to think how fast time really does go. I am almost at my four month mark. Holy Cow. :)

We had a special moment yesterday at Stake Conference. We had the opportunity to hear from President Monson, Elder Bednar, and Sister Lant via a telecast. It was way sweet. It was a special broadcast in response to the Earthquake, and it was a very good meeting. Surprisingly enough, I actually understood most! And that was an excellent sign. Sister Lant´s talk was intended for parents and how they need to teach and prepare their children. She mentioned the Stripling Warriors, tambien (just like she did when she spoke to us in the MTC; it was a similiar talk, actually. Just in Spanish. Haha.) Elder Bednar and President Monson both gave excellent talks on the Healing Powers on the Atonement. They were both very good, and the people of Chile were happy to have witnessed it--especially our recent converts, la familia Araya. :)

Speaking of Investigators, we are having problems finding good, committed people right now. We have a lot of investigators, but a lot of them just aren´t very committed. So that is something we are going to really work on this next week. :) We have a kid named Matias, who is part of a menos-activo family. And he will probably get baptized this next transfer/change. :) The family is really excited to get reactived and what not! (Now...hopefully I stay here in el Barrio Brillador so that I can be part of it. :))

Which brings us to cambios. We have them tonight for sure, and it´s going to be fun to see who stays and who goes. :) We know that Elder Tabares (Elder Briones´s companion) is leaving to Valpo to be trained as a Zone Leader. Other than that, we don´t know anyone else´s fate. :) I am hoping to stay here for at least one more change, because I am just now getting to know my way around, the language, etc. But...the Lord decides where I go and who I am with. The only choice I have is to be obedient or not. :) And I am fine with where ever I go because I know it´s where the Lord needs me. :) And with that said...I am really going to miss these Elders (whether they go or I go), especially Elder Tabares. He gives me a hard time with the language and what not, but it´s funny, and I love it. I will miss him and his good example.

For the brothers: They DO have taco bell here. But only in Santiago (that I know of). I just heard a few days ago from Andy (a guy in our ward who served in California, he speaks English!) that they USED to have one here, but they got ridof it. What a shame! If I could, I would order 75 tacos again like I did that one time for FHE. :) Excellent.

Also, I think everyone should invest in the excellent DVD "Reflections of Christ" and "Another Testament." It is a DVD with a slideshow on it, but the photographer who did the pictures of Christ...wow. It´s way good! I recommend it to all. :)

I hope all is well. I have days where I just think it would be so much easier to just throw in the towel and go home. But then I remember why I am truly here and what the Savior has given me, and I have no choice but to smile and press forward with the work. I have seen Christ´s miracles, and I am here to share His Gospel with muchas personas here in Chilè.

I love you all, and I look forward to hearing from you all again soon! :)

Con Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

--

D&C 122:7

P.S.

Enjoy the pictures. :) There are some good ones! And today...we have a bonus. :) A video of this crazy dog. Every time we walk toward him, he jumps OVER the wooden fence and THEN starts barking. Haha. No me gusta eso perro. :) Enjoy!

A Crazy Last Few Days

Dear All,

Wow. Here I am again! It was a crazy week, especially the last few days. I will start with the earthquake, since I believe that is what everyone is probably wondering about.

Here in La Sarena, the Earthquake was about a 4.5. So it wasn´t super bad, but it was still the strongest one I´ve ever felt. It was at 3:30 AM, and it was a little scary at first, only because I thought Elder Birchall was having a seizure or something. But as soon as Elder Bales (one of the Zone Leaders) woke up and started yelling "Earthquake!" I knew what all the shaking was. It took me a while to get back to sleep, and I didn´t think it was all that bad!

But after going to members´ homes and seeing the destruction on the TV. Wow! Yesterday, we heard that 700 people are dead; this morning we heard (from a collectivo driver) that it was around 1000 or so. My prayers are with the families in Concepciòn and Santiago! And if you remember, my good friend Elder Briones is from Santiago. He was able to call his parents, and they are okay. Their house is still intact, but he said a lot of their posessions (TV, computer, etc.) were destroyed. And I don´t know if you´ve been following the news, but...There is no water or electricity in Santiago, and there is just a ton of chaos down there. :/ It´s just a mess.

The good news: We heard yesterday at church that all the missionaries are safe. I was a little worried, but I am happy to know that we are all safe. I am grateful for the promise the Lord has given me--that I will be watched over and protected in my missionary work. I am reminded of this every day.

Duban´s baptism on Friday was good (see the pictures);however, we made a mess when we forgot to turn off the water when filling up the font. Luckily enough, the Relief Society was there to mop it up. :) (Again, see the pictures. Haha.) But yeah--it was a good baptism, and Duban was confirmed yesterday, along with the Araya Family.

School has started back up here in Chilè, and it´s weird seeing everyone starting school in late February and early March. Haha. It´s also weird that they are just now starting the Book of Mormon in Seminary this year when Timmy and everyone else in the States started like...six months ago. Haha. But I guess that´s just how that works. :)

Elder Boyd and I had a fun experience last Thursday when our District Leader (Elder Boyd´s companion) decided to let us go on interchanges together. (Imagine: Two missionaries working together for a whole day after only being here for six weeks. Haha.) But we actually did really well! We were only able to teach three lessons, but we were both surprised by how much we understood and were able to speak. Now, of course, we still have a LONG way to go, but we are both working hard, and it was good to see our efforts come together this last Thursday. :)

I had an embarassing moment at the Araya´s house the other day when they decided to let me pray in English. My first thought, "Excellent! Now I can finally say what I want to say and how I want to say it." I was surprised when it was extremely difficult to pray, and as I mixed up English and Spanish words, and when I forgot how to ask for blessings in English. Of course, the Araya´s don´t know English, so that was okay. Haha. But afterwards, Elder Birchall said, "Wow. Is that usually how you pray? That was a pretty weird prayer." (And it really was. I wish I could describe just how bad it was. Haha.) But...I think it´s normal when I´ve only prayed in Spanish for the last few months.

Also, with the Earthquake and what not, they aren´t doing cambios today. And so Elder Birchall and I have another week together, we believe. We will find out more details tonight. :) I guess the Area Presidency of Chilè doesn´t want any missionaries moving for now; and besides none of the new Elders can fly into the Santiago airport anyways because that place is destroyed. :/ But I will keep you all posted.

Also, we have a guy in my ward who is serving in the same mission as Kyle Taylor, and he is in the same MTC. His name is Elder Cuevas. That would be way sweet if they end up meeting each other!

Well, I hope all is well with everyone, and I am grateful for all your prayers. Despite all the destruction and the chaos, the work still goes forth! I will continue to keep you all posted on whether or not we get to help rebuild, when cambios are, etc.

I love you all, and I testify that this Gospel is true. I am a witness of the truthfulness of the Gospel. I testify that Christ is our Savior and that we can live with our families and our Heavenly Father forever. But only through our Savior and His Atonement.

¡Hasta la proxìma semana!

Con Amor,

Elder Nelson IV

--

D&C 122:7